You Will Be Mine (Forever and Ever #7)(37)

She didn’t look at me. “I’m not hungry right now.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and continued to look like a ghost.

“You haven’t eaten all day and you didn’t eat yesterday…come on. Just a few bites.”

She didn’t move. She sat on the floor and stared out her floor-to-ceiling windows. Skye was practically dead. She didn’t speak unless spoken to, and she walked around like she didn’t understand where she was. She pretended she was fine around everyone else, especially her parents, but it was all act. I knew the break up with Cayson would be hard, but six months months had come and gone and she hadn’t improved. I could only imagine how Cayson felt.

I abandoned the pizza box then sat beside her on the floor. “Skye?”

“Hmm?” She finally turned to me like she noticed me.

“Why did you stay in California so long?” I kept my voice low so she wouldn’t get upset. Anything could set her off.

She pondered my question for a long time before she looked away. Her hair was oily from not showering, and the weight had left her hips and legs quickly. She was starting to look less like the girl I knew. “He…he’s over me.”

I didn’t see how that was possible. “Did he say that?”

“Well, no.” She touched her hair again and stared at the hardwood floor.

“Then why do you think that?”

She closed her eyes as the tears started to bubble. When she opened them, the droplets slid down her face. “When I showed up at his apartment…some girl answered the door wearing one of his shirts…and nothing else.”

The words washed over me like a cold rain. They burned my skin and made me breathe hard. “But, are you sure? There could have been another explanation.”

She shook her head. “Like what? His heater was broke so it just kept going on full blast?” Bitterness was in her voice. “We’d only been apart for a few weeks and he was with someone else. How could he do that?”

I tried to be gentle with her since she was so frail. “Skye, he thinks you cheated on him. He’s entitled to do what he wants…”

“But that’s not Cayson…he wouldn’t do that.”

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe he didn’t. There could be a reasonable explanation.”

She shook her head. “There isn’t.”

I hated seeing my best friend like this. She was a mess. Since she was the strongest woman I knew, it scared me. She’d completely fallen apart into a million pieces. She didn’t even work because she was so distressed. She had no reason to go on. She walked the earth like a ghost.

Her agony was killing me. “Skye, I think you should call Cayson and tell him the truth.”

“No.” Her words held her hostility. “Then this will all be for nothing. He belongs at Stanford…even if he isn’t with me.”

“But—”

“There is no but,” she snapped. “This is what I set out to do. I knew how much it would hurt before I did it. Now I have to see it through.”

“But you did change your mind,” I reminded her. “You did go back to him.”

A dark laugh escaped her lips. “And look where that got me…”

I held my breath for a moment as I gathered my words. “I think you’re just scared to call him…because you think he’s already moved on.”

She looked out the window and watched the sun as it finally disappeared over the horizon.

“Skye?” I pressed.

“Perhaps.” She pulled her knees to her chest. “But what’s done is done. It’s been six months. I’m probably just a memory to him. He hasn’t called me or—”

“You haven’t called him either,” I reminded her.

“Because I didn’t want to make it harder for him. But now if I called…he probably wouldn’t even want to talk to me.”

“You keep making assumptions,” I said firmly. “Just talk to him.”

“No.” She stood up then walked into the bathroom and slammed the door.

A moment later, I heard her crying.

***

Slade demolished his food, his attention focused on his burger and fries. Whenever he was hungry, I didn’t exist. His mouth was big so he could shove a lot inside.

I sat across from him and didn’t touch my food. I wasn’t hungry, and my appetite was non-existent. Skye was sleeping so I decided to go out. It was difficult to be around her because she made me depressed. Seeing my best friend suffer like that was agony.

Slade focused his eyes on me. “What’s your deal?”

“My deal?” I asked.

“You’re all quiet and moody.”

I sighed then picked at my fries. “Just tired.”

He kept eating then glanced at his watch. “I have to get back to work soon—and scrub a few toilets.” He rolled his eyes. “So lame.”

I stared at my food and felt my mind race.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” he pressed. “When you’re tired, you usually lay on me. But right now you’re distant with me.”

I pushed the tray aside, the smell of the food making me sick. “Have you…ever made a promise to someone?”